Study on sustainable mobility in the taxi and rental car industry: more electric vehicles with ECO break

Study on sustainable mobility in the taxi and rental car industry: more electric vehicles with ECO break

The "Wirfahren" initiative and the Fraunhofer focus have published a study on the promotion of sustainable mobility in the taxi and rental car industry. The study entitled "Transformation of the Taxi and Rental Car Management" examines the current state of the industry in terms of sustainability and analyzes paths and concepts to promote change to "greener mobility". The results of the study show that the taxi and rental car industry has a decisive influence on achieving the climate goals. The entire traffic sector contributes to 20 percent of all greenhouse emissions in Germany, with taxis and rental cars cover between 2.5 and 3 billion kilometers each year.
However, the study shows that only about 17 percent of taxi and rental car vehicles have an electric drive. There are therefore considerable potential for reducing CO2 emissions. The scientists of the Fraunhofer focus have examined battery -electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles as technological solutions and assessed the battery -electric drive as the most suitable solution for emission -free mobility. In addition, innovative charging technologies such as inductive charging or the battery change were analyzed in more detail.
Based on these findings, the Fraunhofer focus suggests the innovative concept of the "Eco break". The ECO break was specially developed for the taxi and rental car industry and combines charging infrastructure for electical vehicles with pleasant rest periods for drivers. During loading times, you have access to comfortable relaxation rooms, health and fitness offers as well as gastronomic facilities, which also serves the infrastructure as a meeting place. The ECO break can be connected to existing charging infrastructure or set up at places such as airports or train stations.
Another important aspect of the study is the examination of the duty to return for rental cars, which was introduced in the 1980s. This obligation states that drivers of rental car companies have to go back to their headquarters after the end of an order, unless there is a follow -up order. The researchers of the Fraunhofer focus have carried out a simulation that shows that the obligation to return has around 30 percent of all travel lines in the rental car industry. In Berlin alone, this corresponds to almost 200,000 kilometers of unnecessary empty drives every day. By abolishing the return obligation, significant CO2 savings could be achieved and traffic in the capital could be relieved. In addition, the cancellation of the return obligation would be beneficial for switching to electric vehicles, since they are not yet economical due to their small reach for commercial use.
Overall, the study illustrates the importance of more sustainable mobility in the taxi and rental car industry and presents innovative solutions and recommendations for action for companies and politics to advance this transformation. The “Wirfahren” initiative is the largest merger of rental car companies in Germany for the concerns of companies and their more than 45,000 drivers and provides information about services, future projects and the improvement of service quality, security and sustainability in the industry.

Source: wirfahren.de/ots